Mail production systems generally include high-speed printers used for volume printing, and may be capable of printing hundreds of pages of content per minute or more. A typical mail production system includes multiple continuous-form printing systems that mark paper or other printable media. Automated Document Factory (ADF) systems provide modules that enhance the performance of mail production systems (and other high-volume printing systems). For example, an ADF system may functionally address input constraints, data transformation, delivery preparation of documents, and control of the mail production system itself. Because of this enhanced functionality, ADF systems are preferred for mass-mail printing.
Each printing system of the mail production system may include a printer and an inserter machine that places pre-printed inserts into printed mail pieces. Each inserter may have a different set of inserts available for placement among the mail pieces, and these sets of inserts are known as insert plans.
When mail pieces are produced in high volume (e.g., when the mail pieces are account statements from a large bank or credit provider), it may be necessary to print batches of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of mail pieces on a regular basis. In order to balance load upon the printing systems, the batch is split into print jobs, wherein each print job is targeted to a specific printing system. Splitting the mail pieces into different print jobs is no menial task, because each mail piece may require a different set of inserts than its peers (i.e., each mail piece may be associated with a different loadout/insert plan). Thus, mail pieces are typically assigned to print jobs based upon the inserts that the mail pieces will use. When mail pieces are distributed in this manner, each printer of the mail production system may have a different number of mail pieces to print (i.e., one printer may have to print a different number of mail pieces than its peers, because more documents in the batch are associated with that printer's insert plan). This in turn means that one of the printers may take longer to finish its print job than others, resulting in a non-optimal printing time for the batch. Therefore, the mail production system may identify plains (mail pieces that do not use an insert) among the batch, and may distribute these plains across the print jobs in order to balance the number of mail pieces in each print job and thereby reduce overall printing time for the batch.
Because of the high volume of production in such systems, even savings of pennies in producing and shipping each mail piece may result in significant long-term savings. Thus, operators of mail production systems continue to desire systems and methods for reducing the cost of producing and shipping mail pieces.